Andy Murray’s run at the Mubadala City DC Open stops in the round of 16. The British tennis player surrendered to home player and number one seed Taylor Fritz after a battle that lasted more than three hours, ending with the score 6-7(2) 6-3 6-4.
Murray played on a par with one of the strongest tennis players on this surface and, statistics in hand, of the two he is the one he can complain the most about unexploited opportunities, especially in the third set.
In fact, Fritz canceled 8 of the 9 break points allowed, against Murray’s 5 out of 8. The 3-times Grand Slam champion expressed his disappointment in the post-match press conference, adding however that he was happy with the level of play expressed.
Murray at the press conference: “I had my chances”
Murray commented on the hard fought match against Fritz as follows: “To be honest, I don’t remember much about the beginning of the match. Yes, there are a lot of close matches, a lot of tense moments. It seemed to me that all the sets could have gone either way. He probably had more chances in the first set, I in the third. There weren’t many opportunities in the second but he took his break point when he had it and I lost a point which you win probably nine times out of ten. It was a disappointing defeat because I had my chances.”
The 36-year-old then commented on the busy schedule of the American tournament, as his opponent, two hours after their match, took to the field again for the quarterfinals.
He said: “It’s rare that you play twice in one day, you just try to focus on the first game. And then if you get over it, you try to rest and recover as much as possible. You can usually get back on the court after a adequate rest. I don’t know who decides what is appropriate. I think it’s the supervisor.”
And on his chances of being able to play two games in one day, he joked that he could have done it, but it wouldn’t have been the best. To conclude, Murray revealed that he was disappointed with the defeat, but happy with the level of play expressed.
He also said: “Compared to where I was last year, when I played with Taylor in Canada, where I was at a bad time, my game has improved. He is one of the best hard court players in the world. I definitely have had my chances to win today. But it is obvious that I would like to win these kinds of matches. They were matches I was used to winning. So yeah, it’s frustrating right now.”